Baltimore Washington Eye Center, Maryland

Thursday, October 25, 2012

“Astigmatism is something that is often confusing to patients. Besides being confused by what astigmatism is, a lot of people are under the incorrect impression that having astigmatism means you can’t have Laser Eye Surgery such as LASIK to correct your vision,” commented Corneal Specialist and LASIK Surgeon Brad Spagnolo, M.D. of Baltimore Washington Eye Center. “LASIK for astigmatism is not only possible-but we use it all the time as an excellent way to correct vision,” said Dr. Spagnolo.

Here is what you need to know about LASIK and astigmatism. First, astigmatism is one of the common types of refractive problems that cause blurry vision. Common refractive-or eye focus problems-include nearsightedness or myopia, farsightedness or hyperopia, astigmatism and presbyopia.

Astigmatism usually results from an unequal curvature of the cornea-the outermost clear dome in the front of the eye-that causes the eye to have two different curvatures and thus two different focal points. This can make images look more blurry at a specific orientation so that things horizontally are blurred or things vertically are blurred, depending on the direction of the astigmatism. Astigmatism can be very annoying visually and can even cause headaches and many visual symptoms apart from the blurriness itself. The visual distortions caused by astigmatism in healthy eyes are correctable with eyeglasses, contact lenses and Laser Vision Correction such as LASIK. “Today, as LASIK surgeons, we are able to accurately measure and treat all types of astigmatism with high degrees of precision and predictability”, said Dr. Spagnolo.

If you or someone you know has astigmatism and would like to be less dependent or possible even free from the hassle of glasses and contact lenses for seeing at distance, please call Baltimore Washington Eye Center for a Free Evaluation for Laser Eye Surgery for the Laser Vision Correction of astigmatism at 800-495-3937, visit Baltimore Washington Eye Center or facebook.com/baltimorewashingtoneyecenter, so that we can help and recommend an appropriate treatment plan.